With UN Security Council Vote on Anti-Settlement Resolution Looming, Israel’s UN Envoy Calls on America to ‘Stand By Us’

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Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. Photo: Screenshot.

Israel’s UN envoy called on America to “stand by us” after it was announced on Friday morning that a vote on an Egyptian-promoted anti-settlement resolution — which was delayed on Thursday — would be held later in the day.

“This resolution is a Palestinian initiative which is intended to harm Israel,” Danny Danon said. “We expect our greatest ally to continue with its long-standing policy and to veto this resolution.”

The resolution in question says Israeli communities established in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967 have “no legal validity” and represent “a flagrant violation” of international law, constituting “a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.” It goes on to demand that the Jewish state “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”

According to media reports, the American UN delegation had planned to abstain from Thursday’s vote. It was unclear how it would act on Friday.

An unnamed senior Israeli official was quoted by CNN as saying on Friday, “President [Barack] Obama and Secretary [of State John] Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN. President Obama could declare his willingness to veto this resolution in an instant but instead is pushing it. This is an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN and undermines the prospects of working with the next administration of advancing peace.”